


Tragedy Falls

by WilliamWonderland



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Other, more tags to be added if the work continues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-06-01 22:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6537922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WilliamWonderland/pseuds/WilliamWonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper Pines had been fascinated by anything and everything supernatural from a very young age. Be it mythical creatures or unexplained environmental phenomena, the young boy enjoyed and appreciated it all. However, perhaps due to a more morbid standpoint brought about by details of his early childhood, the one topic of the supernatural that fascinated Dipper the most had always remained consistent: ghosts. So what is a fresh high school graduate to do when he discovers a respectable college town that also happens to house one of the most haunted establishments on record in the Pacific Northwest?</p><p>Investigate, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Tall Tales and Baby Wails

**Author's Note:**

> This AU was actually constructed by myself and a good friend of mine months and months ago on Halloween while discussing various existing Gravity Falls AUs, such as Monster Falls and the Cipher Twins AU. In the spirit of the holiday, we idly ventured into an attempt to create one of the darkest and most tragic Gravity Falls universes that we could, as compared to the universes we knew of at the time.  
> It got incredibly detailed, and as we worked more on it, the more we wanted to see it become a real, living entity within the Gravity Falls community, such as the rise of All That Glitters and the like. We were _proud_ of what we had made, and wanted to share it with everyone.  
>  However, as the prospect of managing an alternate universe in the complete sense that we desired became more and more daunting, the less enthusiastic we were to work on it. We didn't want to release it until we had a very firm establishment of what it was, and the longer we worked, the more that came to seem like a mere pipe dream.  
> As the only one of us who actually filled the author role, I still have the work in progress to this date, and I looked back upon it with wishful thinking that while it may not be as _complete_ as we would have liked, it can still be shared. We put a lot of effort into this, after all. It would be a shame to put it to waste!  
>  I don't know if I'm going to continue writing this story to its completion. It mostly depends on the response it receives. Demand will determine whether I make an attempt to revive this project, even after my friend has long abandoned it.  
> Heck, if all goes well, I may convince them to return to it, I don't know.  
> Regardless, this is Tragedy Falls, and to those who made it to this point rather than skipping to the story, I hope you enjoy what little of the project was completed in the months that it was in progress.

Dipper sighed tiredly as he let his duffle bag drop to the ground with a thud. Glancing across the mostly bare apartment, he gave a small smile as he absently rubbed the locket around his neck. The tiny living space wasn't much, but it was his new home.

"Home, sweet home, huh, Mabes?" He asked softly to no one in particular as he eyed the bedroom fondly.

His parents had been skeptical about his idea to go to college out in the small town of Gravity Falls. However, the college itself had an excellent program for a writing major, and Dipper sold them on this fact. In all honesty, college studies were the least of his worries, as he had his own personal reason for being drawn to the out-of-the-way area.

Dipper rummaged around in his duffle bag, pulling out his laptop. He brought it over to the bed and sat down, opening the device and pulling up a web browser. After a quick search, he pulled up the object of his interest: Siam Manor. Supposedly, the old ‘90s home was haunted by more than a few spirits.

“Just how many do you think have stuck around there, Mabes? Six? Seven? It’d be so cool to get to meet them all.”

Dipper had always held a deep interest in the supernatural, particularly ghosts and the like. The idea of life after death and spirit hauntings intrigued him. He hummed thoughtfully as he rubbed the locket again.

When Dipper was born, he was supposed to have a twin sister. Mabel was the name his parents said they gave her. However, due to complications, Mabel had been stillborn, leaving Dipper on his own. More often than not he found himself entertaining the idea of his twin looking after him in a similar fashion to the protective spirits he'd read about. He was never without the locket containing a picture of his sister as a baby. The sentiment made him feel that, even though she hadn't made it, she was with him somehow. He often caught himself talking to nobody as though he were speaking to his twin. He stopped trying to break the habit a long time ago.

“Besides, it’s nice to have someone to talk to even when there’s no one to talk to. Right, Mabel?”

Dipper sighed softly, tucking the locket safely back under his shirt. He scrolled through the information on the Manor that had piqued his interest. It was a rather nice residence built in the early ‘90s, with expensive hardwood finishes and fancy stained glass windows. It was practically anyone's dream home, and a real steal at such a knocked-down price. However, despite the appealing look and the appealing price, the home had been on the market for a year and a half now with little to no chance of being sold. Dipper could understand why nobody wanted to buy the home. After all, the house had quite a nasty reputation.

There had been more than a few deaths within the home, scaring away potential buyers. What had intrigued Dipper the most, however, was the fact that every victim of the house was a twin. This was an unusual detail, targeting only twins, and Dipper had his heart set on figuring out just what the ominous house was hiding. He was planning to make his investigations of the house primarily during the night, from two in the morning until four when his classes permitted. 3:00am was said to be the hour of the spirits, and would be the prime time for spiritual activity if there was any to be had. Dipper definitely wanted to be there for that, and his mouth twitched upward in a small smile of anticipation as he clicked through the gallery of photos taken of the house. He knew the complete layout of the entire building by now, save for the attic and basement, which were oddly enough left out of the photo shoot. The last victims had been a pair of twins about his age, who had moved into the house for its astonishingly low price while they attended college together. One had apparently taken his life in the attic, while the other followed suite in the garage. That was about a year and a half ago. Curious as Dipper was, he couldn’t find any more information on the twins, as their names were always changed and photos omitted in order to respect the privacy of the dead.

“I can’t blame them, though. If something like that happened to me, I wouldn’t want the press sharing my information, either.”

Even so, Dipper was intrigued by the nature of these twins’ deaths. He chewed on the tip of his pen as he pulled up more articles he’d found covering the stories of other victims of the house. Of all the victims, the most recent set of twins had been the only ones to commit double suicide. All the others varied from illness to murder, and the cause of death was never repeated. What was so special about these two? It was almost as if…

Dipper yelped in surprise at the sudden loud snap, pulling him from his train of thought. He pulled the pen away from his mouth to find he’d practically cracked it open. With a sigh, he tossed the now-useless writing utensil into the garbage can. At least he didn’t have to deal with a mouthful of ink this time. He really needed to quit that habit. He figured if Mabel was there, she’d probably be laughing at him, and wondered vaguely what her laugh would’ve sounded like. This triggered a small pang in the empty half of him he had attributed to his missing twin.

His train of thought was long gone by now, and the boy took this opportunity to glance at the time in the corner of his laptop screen. It was 10:51pm, indicating to the college student that it was getting late. Well, that was a bit of an overstatement, as Dipper was plenty used to all-nighters, but in this case he should probably be considering heading to bed earlier. His new college was having an orientation for freshman students that he needed to attend in the morning. After that, he was going to spend the rest of the day preparing himself for his first investigation of Siam Manor that night.

Dipper shut his laptop and set it on the bedside table before flopping back onto the bed to stare at the ceiling. He didn’t bother changing into more comfortable sleepwear, simply leaning over to switch off the lamp, softly bidding his ever-absent sister good night. The excitement and apprehension of the events of tomorrow kept him up a while more before he slipped into sleep, his dreams overtaken by ideas of what the house will be like up close and, strangely enough, his sister, her lost wails of birth echoing in the distance.

 

* * *

 

Dipper hadn’t paid much attention during orientation, speeding through the paperwork as his mind wandered to the manor he intended on visiting that night. The afternoon was spent preparing for the beginning of his investigation, just as he’d planned. He’d dumped the contents of his backpack in favor of his voice recorders, cameras, and other necessary supplies he’d collected over the years for his ghost-hunting escapades. After checking and double-checking to make sure he had everything packed up neatly, he’d spent the rest of the night doing more research until the clock read 1:30am.

The time was now 1:55am as Dipper looked up at the imposing manor before him. The elegant building had a much more menacing appearance at night, as the nicer details were shadowed in darkness. The student slipped his pack off his shoulder and rummaged around inside, pulling out a small clip-on camera and a voice recorder. He clipped the camera to the bill of his trusty pine tree hat, and flicked on the recorder before tucking it in his pocket. He had other, nicer cameras, but the little one clipped to his hat was by-far the most crucial. He’d run into far too many instances where he saw something extraordinary only to find he’d forgotten to turn the camera on, or that it had run out of batteries. The smaller camera had enough battery life to last the entire investigation, and was a foolproof backup that would catch everything Dipper saw that night, and even some things he might miss.

With his equipment now set up properly, Dipper zipped his bag shut and stood to face the manor again. He took a breath in an attempt to quell the rising apprehension he felt, absently reaching up to rub the locket around his neck.

“You ready, Mabel…?”

Though he was used to not hearing a reply, the ensuing silence sent a jab of uncertainty up his spine. He took a hesitant step back as his paranoia made the house look even more ominous than it had before. He’d never had such a large-scale investigation before. Sure, he’d poked around haunted hotspots before, but this seemed like a much bigger deal all of a sudden. A lot more… menacing. Maybe this was a bit too much for him…

And then, as soon as it had come, the uncertainty and fear were nearly washed away. What came in its place was a soothing sense of reassurance, as though someone was giving him an encouraging hug. He could do this. He just needed to keep a cool head. Dipper sucked in another breath to steel himself before looking up at the offending building again, not with fear, but with determination. Something was definitely going on here, and he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try to find out what.

With a self-reassuring nod, Dipper Pines pushed open the gate to the property, taking his first step into the ultimate mystery that was Siam Manor.

 

 


	2. Of Mismatched Pictures and Ethereal Sisters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last Dipper's first investigation is under way, and thus far it has been rather quiet. The lack of activity doesn't match very much at all with the reports he had researched preceding his arrival in Gravity Falls. However, what does end up coming for him doesn't quite match the accounts of mere chills and moving objects, either.

Dipper rather enjoyed the fact he didn’t have to break into the site of his investigation for once. He had called Gleeful Realtors before he moved to Gravity Falls, unbeknownst to his parents, and practically begged them to allow him to investigate there. At first, they refused outright, probably worried enough already about the image the house carried. In the end, Dipper had to make an offer to potentially buy the damn place just to gain access to the spare key they had so graciously left under the mat at the front door for him. It wasn’t a legitimate offer, of course, but it was still ridiculous that he had to make such a claim just to gain access to the house no one wanted to even buy.

With a click, the door unlocked and Dipper pushed it open into a large foyer. He took a step inside, his gaze running all over the hodgepodge decor. Furniture had been left, replaced, and left again over the years, leaving behind an unusual collage of the lifestyles of the house’s victims. The thought chilled Dipper as much as it intrigued him.

Photos of residents passed lined the walls. There was a relatively normal-looking family photo hung over a side table – a pair of young twin boys smiling from the protective embrace of their parents. Another picture depicted two older men posed in front of what looked like the grand opening of some obscure company Dipper had never heard of before. Another still depicted the blank faces of a man and a woman, this photograph being far older than the rest. Dipper shivered under the cold gaze these two seemed to be giving him through the image.

Dipper wondered vaguely which pairs of twins were which as he wandered through the hall. It was also really weird that the pictures of previous owners had been kept all this time. He could understand the financial benefits of keeping the old furniture, but the pictures were a sentiment that most people would just throw away, or at the very least pack away in a box. Dipper supposed the owners might have kept the pictures as a sort of memorial to the past victims of the house, but that seemed a little morbid. He quickly pushed the topic out of his mind.

About where he got to the stairs, he had to do a double-take when the pattern of family photos abruptly changed with the introduction of a new pair of twins. These two brothers looked like they were about his age, and Dipper was quick to realize these two must have been the most recent victims of the house. They were the special double suicide case.

Unlike the rest of the photos, these twins were always alone together in the frame. Not once were the two ever with anyone other than each other, not even other family. It was then Dipper realized that these two also took a lot more pictures than the others, the walls practically lined with their smiling faces.

Dipper stepped closer to the wall to examine one of the new pictures. The two were clearly identical twins, though it was curious to find that while one of the boys had striking blond hair, the other’s locks were a soft light blue. Then again, the blue boy could have just dyed his hair to make telling them apart easier. They probably needed the change anyway, as the two stretched the identical twin shtick to its limits. The twins always seemed to be dressed identically, although in their respective blue and yellow, right down to how they styled their hair. It was almost comical how alike yet different they looked. Dipper could tell that this pair was quite a bit closer than the other sets of twins he'd seen thus far.

In this particular photo, it looked like the two were out sitting in the sun on a grassy hill. Yellow had one arm slung over Blue’s shoulders, the other raised out of the frame – he had probably been the one taking the picture. Yellow was grinning triumphantly into the camera while it looked like Blue had been taken by surprise, jostled and looking like he was in the middle of a surprised shout. Dipper moved on to the next photo.

Yellow and Blue were standing in front of this very house, Yellow gesturing dramatically to the big SOLD sign in the yard. Blue was practically hiding behind Yellow, but he was grinning almost as big as his brother. Judging by how excited the two were, they probably bought the house themselves. Dipper wondered how long it might’ve taken the two of them to save enough to buy this house. He moved on again.

This picture was clearly a birthday photo. Dipper couldn’t tell exactly what year it was for them, considering they had only used two candles on the small cake, one for each of them in their respective colors. Yellow was currently trying to wrestle Blue into a blue party hat to match his own yellow hat. Blue didn’t seem to be very fond of the idea. With the fact the image was taken in the middle of this squabble, Dipper figured the camera was on a timer, and no one else was actually with them at their little party to take the photo. He confirmed this when he spotted only two presents off on the counter in the background, one wrapped in blue and the other in yellow. They were probably presents each of them had gotten for one another. Dipper frowned slightly, unable to imagine having a party without any friends or family invited. Did these two engage in society at all? He continued to scan the pictures.

There were plenty of other pictures of the two across the rest of the wall. It seemed wherever Yellow could find an excuse to break out the camera, he sure as hell did. There was a picture of them in their costumes for Halloween, again playing the identical shtick with their matching yellow devil and blue angel themes. Another depicted the two sitting on the floor before a Christmas tree, exchanging gifts with one another. Again, the two gifts they offered one another were the only ones in sight. There were also plenty of day-to-day photos in between the holidays. Around where Dipper may have guessed it was getting close to Spring, Yellow and Blue were suddenly sporting matching top hats and bow ties. A special occasion? Dipper glanced down the hall. No, as a matter of fact, from that point on it was all top hats. Which one of them started that trend? Probably Yellow, Dipper guessed.

“Aw, they’re adorable!”

Dipper practically shrieked in surprise as he leapt away from the unknown voice, his heart shooting up into his throat as he pressed fearfully against the wall. He wasn’t expecting there to be another person here!

The girl in question had jumped similarly in response to Dipper’s reaction. She was staring at Dipper, wide-eyed as Dipper stared back. She seemed seriously startled by his reaction. She looked one way, and then the other, as though she was expecting something else to be the cause of his scare, not herself. Dipper just continued to stare, nervous about the strange girl’s behavior.

“W-wait…” the girl finally spoke up when she had convinced herself they were the only ones in sight. “You… You can hear me…? You can  _ see _ me…?”

Dipper, confused, just nodded mutely back. The girl’s response to this was also confusing. She seemed very shocked by this revelation, stepping back as she covered a small gasp. Dipper vaguely noticed tears collecting in her shining brown eyes.

“Am I… not supposed to see you or something?”

The girl only shook her head, looking down at herself as though trying to confirm her own existence. She looked back up at Dipper again. The tears had pooled over now.

“D-Dipper…!”

Woah, okay, she knew his name. Nothing weird about that.

“Y-yes, and you are…?”

The girl’s eyes widen in revelation again when Dipper’s question clicked. She lowered her head sadly as she muttered duly, “Oh… Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t recognize me or anything, considering the only time you’ve ever seen me was when I was a baby…”

Dipper blinked in confusion at this. It was then that he actually took a good look at the girl in front of him. Her long chocolate hair was puffed out with natural curls, held at bay with a simple purple headband. She was looking sadly at the ground with large brown eyes that shined with longing tears. She sported a pink sweater with a shooting star image on it, and a purple skirt to match her headband. The most interesting detail, however, was her skin. It was pale, but in addition to that it almost seemed to have an ethereal glow to it. There was no lighting anywhere that could have caused that naturally. It was then that Dipper’s logical mind kicked into overdrive. It seemed pretty clear to him that she wasn’t of this world, and now that he thought about it, she seemed to look quite a bit like him. Her hair and eyes had a color, texture, and look to them that matched his own in an almost uncanny way. Dipper’s hand involuntarily flew to his locket.

“M-Mabel…?”

The girl suddenly looked up at him with wide eyes once more, full of hope.

“You recognize me…?”

Dipper faltered as the words indirectly confirmed his suspicions. The girl standing before him was none other than Mabel Pines, his twin sister, the  _ stillborn _ . He stumbled slightly to lean more on the wall for support. He had been expecting big things from this house, but nothing  _ this _ big!


	3. Of Darkened Hallways and Empty Walkways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twist of fate which brings Mabel into Dipper's perception is astonishing at the very least, and the information she brings to light about the afterlife even more so. Never had he believed in his wildest dreams that he would have the opportunity to encounter such a specter, let alone be able to so quickly establish such a connection with it. It almost seems too good to be true...

An awkward silence had settled over the two as they stood there, staring at one another. Upon being recognized for who she was, any anxiety the girl had shown previously was completely washed away. She stood there, smiling brighter than the glow of her skin, waiting patiently for Dipper to process the information.

Dipper himself couldn’t quite believe it. This girl, this  _ ghost _ was Mabel, his  _ sister _ . Despite never actually having known her, since she died during birth, Dipper had grown up with a hole in his heart. He’d never been able to find words to explain it. There was just some instinctive feeling when someone was missing their twin, like half of them was empty.

And yet, standing there against the wall, just staring at the girl before him, just  _ seeing _ her beautiful smile, Dipper could feel that empty half of himself fill up. It was a warm, connected sensation that Dipper embraced wholeheartedly. This was, without a doubt, his twin sister.

Curiosity was quick to sweep in and replace his uncertainty.

“M-Mabel! Ohmigosh. Woah, okay-! What’re you- I-I mean,  _ how _ are you-!?” Dipper gestured vaguely to his sister’s form, unable to think of a good way to word his question. Mabel giggled.

“I’ve always been around, silly!” Dipper quickly concluded that he loved Mabel’s voice, ringing clear and sweet like the offer of water to a desert-bound traveller. His very being had been starved of his twin’s presence, and he certainly wasn’t wasting any time drinking up how his other half was speaking, smiling,  _ existing _ after having grown up without her this whole time. Clearly, twins were a lot more connected than he thought…

“Hey, Dippin’ Dots! Are you listening?”

Dipper jumped slightly as Mabel pulled him from his thoughts. She was tapping her foot impatiently, but her smile betrayed her amusement. Dipper returned his focus to her as she explained again.

“I’ve been following you since day one, DipDop. I’ve watched over you your whole life, keeping you safe where I can,” the spirit shrugged. “I guess you could call it a guardian angel kind of deal? I couldn’t just let you grow up all by yourself, after all! You’re practically hopeless without me. Like, get this, do you remember how you were texting and driving a couple weeks ago because you were late to lunch and trying to get your friends to wait up on you?”

Dipper remembered the situation vaguely, nodding. He’d been driving on a relatively straight road and so he’d figured it would be okay to just flip his cell out really quick to let his friends know he was going to be late.

“Well, a huge semi-truck running a red light almost T-boned you, BroBro. I managed to get you to slow down enough without thinking so that your light changed to red and you stopped. Scared the heck out of me!”

Dipper paled slightly at this revelation. That one moment of distraction, and he almost died in a wreck. If it hadn’t been for Mabel watching over him, he wouldn’t even be here right now. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. He was never going to even consider texting and driving at the same time ever again. Mabel sighed, a soft smile spreading across her face as she fixed her twin with a comforting look.

“Don’t worry about it now, Dipper, you ended up okay, and that’s what matters now, right? Bwomp!” Mabel poked him playfully in the nose, giggling. Dipper couldn’t help but chuckle softly in kind. His sister’s bright attitude was apparently very infectious, not that Dipper minded in the least.

“Anyway, as for why you can actually  _ see _ me, I have no idea,” Mabel continued with a shrug. “But I do feel a lot of spiritual activity here, and I do mean a  _ lot. _ It’s kind of weird, not like any other place you’ve snooped around, that’s for sure,” she added with a knowing smirk.

Dipper didn’t take much notice to the jibe, much more interested in what Mabel had said about the house. So there was a lot of spiritual activity here? That was just what he was hoping for. The living Pines glanced around the hall, almost expecting to see another ghost. He was unfortunately disappointed. Mabel picked up on it easily and batted his disappointment away.

“Oh, they’re here, Dippin’ Dots, I can feel it. They’re just a little nervous is all. After all, how many visitors do you think they get that bring their own ghost along?” She shot him a reassuring grin. Dipper only rolled his eyes as he continued to look around, slowly starting off down the hall again. Mabel fell into step beside him, and the two slipped into a comfortable silence as they explored more of the house. It seemed so natural, like they really had been living together like normal twins their entire lives. Well, Dipper’s entire life. He wasn’t sure if that figure of speech really applied to his sister.

Now that he thought about it, though, Mabel technically had been with him his entire life. He wondered… Every time he’d spoken out to an empty room, pretending she was there, was she really listening? Had she ever responded only to have her words fall on deaf ears as Dipper was unable to sense her presence in the slightest? Dipper frowned. That sounded even more lonesome than how he had to grow up. At least he’d never had to watch Mabel ignore him every time he spoke to her. Despite knowing he couldn’t have helped it, Dipper felt a pang of guilt for ignoring his sister his entire life. He wanted to make it up to her somehow, and he felt the best way to start was to interact with her as much as possible from this point on.

“So you said before that you could feel the ghosts. What does that mean?” Dipper asked awkwardly, trying to strike up a conversation.

“Oh, can't you, too? I dunno, maybe it's just me because I'm an empath, but I can feel it. They're radiating nervousness, DipDop. Some more than others. Like fear's practically  _ coming down in waves  _ from the attic. Seriously, it’s taking ‘terror raining down on you’ to a whole new level, the poor thing is so scared!”

“The attic, huh…?” Dipper hummed thoughtfully as they wandered into the kitchen. The attic was one of the two places he really knew nothing about other than the fact one of the residents had committed suicide there. Supposedly it was locked tight. Not even the realtors could get in there with their abundance of keys. There had to be a reason for that. "Do you have any idea what might be up there?"

"Not the slightest," Mabel replied with a shrug. "At the very least, though, I think we should be a little courteous, BroBro."

"Courteous?"

"Yeah, like," Mabel fumbled slightly to find the right words to explain her thinking, biting her lip. "Like, they're scared, right? So right now they're all watching us to see what our intentions are."

"I guess?" Dipper shivered at the thought of who knows how many ghosts silently watching him from the shadows. That was not exactly the most comforting image.

"Well then, we're gonna have to prove we mean no harm!" Mabel exclaimed with a smile. "From here on out, everything counts, DipDop! We need to be on our best behavior so everybody can get comfortable and open up to us some day!"

Dipper frowned. This didn't really seem much like the kinds of paranormal investigations he was used to. He had been prepared to get answers from digging himself, not from patiently idling around until a ghost just comes and spills all its secrets. He'd expected a fight for the information. Mabel made it sound more like a social gathering. Then again, Mabel knew more about the afterlife than he did, for obvious reasons. She clearly would know things like this, so it'd be a mistake to just blow off her suggestion entirely.

"Okay, so how do we make them comfortable?"

Mabel beamed encouragingly at Dipper's acceptance of her plan. She went over to the table situated in the kitchen and sat down. Dipper went to sit next to her.

"Two simple things, Dippin' Dots. One-" She held up a finger. "-lose the gear."

"What!?" Dipper grabbed one of the straps of his backpack, as though he was expecting it to just disappear. "I can't just ditch all my equipment! I need evidence, Mabel! I need this stuff to prove what I find here!"

Mabel rolled her eyes, almost as though she expected this response. She leaned across the table and gently pried Dipper's hand from his bag, entwining her fingers with those of her twin. It was then Dipper realized that, despite being a spirit, Mabel was a) able to touch him and b) very warm. It was a very comfortable sensation to have Mabel's hand in his, and the living Pines twin quickly filed the feeling away as one of his favorites.

"Look, Dipper. These people, whoever they are, all died in really horrible, terrible ways. You said so yourself yesterday that if it were you, you wouldn't have wanted the press to give out information about you, either. And before you even ask, yes. I was there," Mabel interjected when she spotted the curious look that sparked in her twin's eyes. "Back to the point, though. If things were really that bad for them, do you really think they'd be comfortable with you taking down evidence to share to the world about them?"

“I guess you’re right,” Dipper sighed. Reluctantly, he slipped the bag off his shoulder, dropping it on the table. Mabel smiled, giving him a nod of approval.

"Now," the girl continued, "the second thing we need to do is to not go looking for them."

"Isn't that counterproductive, though? I mean, if we want to meet them and talk to them and stuff, then we have to find them, right?"

"True, but you don't really get it. It's like..." His sister trailed off to think of the right way to word her explanation. "It's like trying to gain the trust of a cute little puppy. You don't want to smother and chase it. You need to be calm and wait for it to come to you!"

"Okay," Dipper replied slowly. The living Pines tried to imagine a ghost like a puppy, but in the end he just ended up think of a puppy that was a ghost. Either way, he got the picture. At least, he thought he did. "So no provoking them? What do we do all night, then?"

Mabel shrugged. "Just wander around, I guess? I mean, it's a big house. We could at least go exploring!"

Dipper smiled. Now that sounded like a plan. He hopped up from the table again, eager to get started. The manor was fairly large, so he wanted to cover as much ground as possible tonight. Even without any ghost sightings or evidence, he could still look around without the night going completely to waste. He was about to set off out of the kitchen again when Mabel stopped him. Puzzled, he looked over at his twin to see what she had to say now. The spirit girl only pointed to her forehead with a good-natured shake of her head.

“The cap-cam needs to go, too, DipDop!”

Dipper flinched at this comment. He had completely forgotten about the camera on his hat. With a bit of reluctance, the Pines boy pulled the tiny camera off of his hat, tucking it safely away back in his backpack. At least he had footage of Mabel. That was more than enough in his opinion. It was odd, but he didn’t really think of the video footage he got of Mabel as evidence. It seemed more like one of those dorky home movies his parents used to make whenever he had a cousin over. It was sentimental; the first time he met his twin sister.

Mabel seemed satisfied when the camera was put away, smiling brightly. The two struck out to explore the manor together. Dipper figured that, at the very least, they could cover the first floor of the manor before they called it a night.

There was an extravagant dining room beyond the kitchen, though it was completely empty of furniture and decor. Dipper figured that anyone who had bought the house after the original owners didn't really use the room all that much, since these days a lot of people just ate at the kitchen table. Mabel, however, saw none of the practicalities and ran right into the middle of the room to scrutinize it with the critical eye of an interior designer. She went on and on about her ideal design, a large dark oak dining table set accented with a contrasting white tablecloth, a few decorative cabinets to display fine china and other dishes, a massive painting of the mountainous valleys of Gravity Falls hanging over the marble fireplace. Dipper ended up having to physically pull his twin out of the room, chuckling fondly at her antics.

Past the dining hall, there was a modest living room. Well, as modest as a room could get in a house like this. There was a large fireplace in this room as well, and the walls were covered with an intricately patterned maroon wallpaper that complimented the oak trims very well. The only modest thing about the room was the mismatched furniture. A worn, scruffy gray couch, a small black side table that could be found cheap at IKEA, and an average lamp that was purchased more to do its job lighting the room than to look nice.

Their path then looped them back around to the foyer where they'd started. Dipper looked down to the hall he'd initially gone through that displayed all of the photographs. This couldn't be all there was to the first floor, could it? He sighed as he looked back over to the front door, figuring he'd have to cut tonight's investigation short. It was then that he noticed the elegant double doors across the foyer. He'd missed it before because it was hidden behind the front door as it swung into the house, but now, coming out of the living room, it was clear as day directly across the entryway. He crossed the foyer and tried the door. It was locked.

"Darn it. What's in here?" Dipper tried to jostle the door open, in case it was just stuck, to no avail. Mabel, on the other hand, just looked at the door thoughtfully.

"It's someone's space, BroBro, of course it's locked."

"Someone's space?" Dipper asked incredulously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, every spirit who endured a tragic death tends to find a place to settle down. It's where they feel safe. That's their space. It'd be rude to just barge into someone's space like that."

"Okay? What am I supposed to do, then?"

"Try knocking? And asking nicely! That always helps!"

Dipper still seemed skeptical, but he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his twin and hear her out anyway. The living Pines turned back to the door, hesitating a little before reaching up to knock on the dark wood.

"Um, hey, sorry to bother you, but could my sister and I take a look inside there?" He hoped this didn't sound as ridiculous as he thought it did.

There was silence. Well, that was a waste of ti-

"No!"

Dipper jumped at the sudden response from the other side of the door. He hadn't expected a response at all, let alone such a forceful one.

"S-sorry! We'll be on our way, then!" Dipper then turned away from the door and walked off again, pulling Mabel by the sleeve of her oversized sweater. He released his sister once they reentered the picture hallway, pausing to let his heart rate drop back to a normal, steady pace. Mabel didn't seem as shaken as he did, but there was no reason for her to be. She was a ghost herself, after all.

"Well, that wasn't the nicest answer, but at least they're talking to us! That's a start!" The girl beamed excitedly at her brother, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Dipper couldn't help but return the infectious smile.

"Yeah, they're warming up pretty quick, huh, Mabes?"

"You betcha!" She paused to look around. "Hey, what time is it, anyway? Shouldn't we be heading back home?"

Dipper glanced at his watch to find it was already nearing 4:30 in the morning. Had they really been here that long? It almost didn't seem real, how fast the time slipped by.

"Yeah, I'll go grab my stuff and we can head back, okay?"

"Okay!"

Dipper ran back to the kitchen to grab his bag before rejoining Mabel at the front door. The two exchanged a smile before leaving the house, Dipper turning to lock the door before they set out across the yard. Dipper took the lead as they passed the gate, the living Pines excitedly talking about how amazing the night's investigation had turned out to be. From seeing the house to the exclamation he'd gotten from inside the study, it had all been worthwhile. Mabel's appearance especially had been one of his favorite events of the night, and he couldn't help but list all the things he wanted to do with his twin now that she was there.

Dipper was about halfway down the street when he realized Mabel wasn't engaging in the conversation. He looked back to ask her if she was alright, only to find that he was the only person in sight on the darkened street.

He stood there, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend that his sister wasn't there. What happened? Where had she gone? Or was she still there? Could he just not see her again? Somehow, that possibility felt worse to him than the idea of her outright leaving on her own. They had only met a few hours ago, but Dipper had easily grown very attached to his sister. After meeting her the way he had, after spending all that time with her, getting to know her, there was absolutely no way he'd be able to go back to just pretending she was there in an empty room. He couldn't stand the thought of going back to talking to himself, pretending she was there to hear him. He needed to see her. He couldn't bear  _ not _ seeing her for the rest of his life.

It was then that Dipper's thoughts started to wander towards his footage from tonight. Wait, that's right, Mabel was in that footage! The living Pines dropped to his knees right there in the middle of the sidewalk, unable to wait until he got home. He needed to see Mabel again, even if it was just a video. He needed to see the proof that she had been there, that she was real.

He dropped his bag on the ground in front of him, and began to dig around inside for his cap-cam and a player to watch the footage on. He pulled the two items out and moved to sit on the curb as he rested the player on his knees and plugged the tiny camera into it. Flipping open the player, the footage from earlier that night lit up the screen. The footage had no audio to it, but that hardly mattered to the Pines boy at the moment.

Dipper fast-forwarded through the beginning. Entering the house, wandering into the picture hall, examining the photos hanging on the walls, he stopped when he saw the familiar image of the yellow and blue twins and their top hats. He felt his heartbeat pick up in anticipation as he saw the video jolt from when he'd jumped at the sound of Mabel's voice. The image distorted as Dipper had spun around to press his back against the wall, and the video settled to view-

An empty hallway.


	4. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere, sometime, in a room sparsely lit by an unkempt fire tucked away in an ashy hearth, unseen fingers could be heard thoughtfully tapping away against the wooden arm of an unseen chair. A sigh is heaved and there is a faint tinkle as the fingers forego the tapping in favor of the white china teacup resting in its saucer on the desk.
> 
> “It’s a start.”
> 
> “What is?”
> 
> “This cycle. I started with something rather predictable this time. I must be losing my touch.”
> 
> “Predictable? If you ask me, I say we just get the shovel and-”
> 
> “But that isn’t _tragic_ , dear brother. If there is no connection, there is no story. Storytelling is an art. Without a story, it’s just mindless killing.”
> 
> “Killing is good, Aeron.”
> 
> “Of course it is, Devlon.”
> 
> “Then what’s the problem?”
> 
> Another sigh.
> 
> “I’d enjoy it quite a bit more with a bit of weight to it. Names to faces, empathetic connections, psychological breaks…”
> 
> “Then where should we go from here?”
> 
> A pause.
> 
> “Let’s take a break, and provide our audience with some context.” A grin flashed in the firelight.
> 
> “The wait will pull at their heartstrings more.”

An empty hallway was the only witness to the argument that took place that night.

Some of the funds set aside for donation to the university had gone missing. There was no way the disappearance could be linked to outside robbery. It was a clear-cut answer: One of the two twins who ran the tiny publishing studio was taking money for himself.

The small amatuer writers’ journal couldn’t claim to be non-profit if there was a profit being made by leeching off of the donation funds. It was unacceptable. The culprit had to be stopped, reprimanded, possibly even kicked from the project altogether. The only problem was, neither twin knew who the thief was, and therefore, accused each other. One thought his twin was sneaking the cash away to fund their ridiculous research projects. The other saw his brother as the greedy money-grubber he knew he was.

The argument raged on, with no concrete conclusion in sight. Neither gave in to the other’s accusations, nor did they believe their brother’s defenses.

In the end, the entire argument went unresolved, and the older of the two stormed out of the house in a fit of rage. How dare his brother have the nerve to accuse him. He knew he hadn't taken any of the donation money, which left the other twin as the only other logical culprit. The middle-aged man grumbled to himself in irritation as he stalked off into town en route to the nearest bar.

It was there that Stanley Pines nursed more than a couple of beers for the better part of the current bartender's shift, lamenting his woes to anyone who found themselves within earshot. Hours passed, shifts changed, and before long it began to grow late even for the bar, as customers began to dwindle into the single digits. Even still, Stanley remained to stew in his own anger, his tab by now running much farther than he was willing to pay.

It wasn't long before it was only Stanley and one other man at the bar, with two drunkards passed out at a table in the corner and the bartender silently cleaning glasses off to the side.

"What you in for?"

The other man at the bar addressed him from nowhere. Stanley couldn't help a gruff chuckle at the way the stranger worded the question. It was like the bar was a prison, and it was in its own right. Many men were drawn in here, imprisoned by the hovering darkness of whatever problems they had that one man just couldn't handle without a cold one to wash it down.

"Not much. Coworker disagreements, you could say."

"Doesn't sound like somethin' worth ten some-odd rounds. What's the catch?"

Stanley gave a noncommittal shrug in lieu of an answer. The stranger only shrugged back and took a swig of his own drink. Silence fell over the bar once again. Time had long since lost meaning and Stanley didn't know how long he sat there, nursing his beer as his vision swam. He probably would have stayed there forever if the stranger hadn't roused him from oblivion again to address him.

"You looked familiar. 'S why I asked. Where've I seen you before, I wonder?"

Stanley snorted. "All over town'd be my guess, in the papers and on the magazine stands."

His and his brother's journal had been getting quite the spotlight since its launch earlier that previous year. Though the publicity was good, the mention of it only served to remind him that some of the cash pulled in from that publicity was going to waste in his brother's meaningless research.

"Ah, Paige Turner, that's it! You're one of the Paige twins, the founders!" The stranger paused to down the last of his drink, eyeing the drunk publisher mischievously. "So that coworker of yours. Wouldn't happen to be referin' to your twin, would you?"

Stanley grunted in response, beginning to regret his decision to humor the stranger. The stranger only took this as a confirmation of his suspicions.

"I see," the stranger replied, nodding sagely as though he completely understood Stanley's predicament. "Sharin' ownership of somethin's tough. Tougher the closer you are. I can't imagine what it must be like if you're twins. What'd 'e do?"

Stanley sighed, giving in to the other man's prying. If his slurs and slumped posture were anything to go by, the stranger likely wouldn't remember the conversation come next morning. What would it matter if he indulged in a little venting?

"Three grand went missing from the donation deposit intended to be given to college writing program. No signs of robbery, the system's entirely sound. It could only be one of us."

"And 'e blames you?"

"But I didn't do it! If it only coulda been one of us, then it's pretty obvious to tell which one's lying between us. I know I didn't take that cash. That only leaves one possibility, but he has the nerve to deny it!"

"Harsh." The stranger took a moment to down the last of his drink, clicking the glass definitively on the counter. "Well if you can't have the trust to be honest to your partner in the workplace, I'd say 'e doesn't deserve to be your partner at all, y'know?"

Stanley scoffed at this. "Wouldn't be able to drop him if we're both at equal rungs on the ladder. He'd just fight back."

The stranger stood then, and Stanley glanced over to him. Tall and dark is all he would be able to remember of the man after tonight. He passed behind Stanley on his way to the exit of the establishment, and paused just long enough to lean over the drunken editor's shoulder to whisper one last thing.

"Y'know, there're more ways to get rid of a troublemaker than just firin' 'im."

And with the tip of his hat, the stranger left without another word.

 

* * *

 

It was late enough in the night to begin calling it early morning when Stanley returned to his home. Had his twin been an average man, Stanley would have expected the entire home to be dark. Alas, his twin was far beyond average, and thus he was not surprised to see the study light still bright in the window.

The reminder brought a certain stranger's less than savory implication to mind.

And to a rather drunk and angry man being faced with the primary source of his anger, it seemed like quite a good idea at the time.

Stanley found himself stumbling not to the door, but instead around to the back of the house. The anger and betrayal that had been left to stew during his time at the bar all seemed to surge in that moment and take control over his body. He made his way into the backyard, past the overgrown garden neither he nor his brother cared for, and came to a stop at the door of the old garden shed.

It took one drunken shove to break in the rust-encrusted door, granting access to the various tools inside. Stanley paid little attention to what exactly he was reaching for - anything leavy would do well enough.

He’d find the next morning that it was a crowbar with which he had crushed his late twin’s skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, I'm alive!  
> I am seriously so sorry for dropping off the face of the planet like I did. I was hoping to have this chapter up like a month ago, but life got in the way and I didn't get around to it. I hope you all can forgive me.  
> This is probably not a very satisfying chapter to return to, either. After all, we still have some - well - _noticeable_ issues that still need to be resolved. Worry not, the next chapter is already well under way! Hopefully I can realistically have it done a lot sooner this time. Heh...

**Author's Note:**

> This work was beta'd by various friends and family while it was being written. I wish to thank them sincerely for the encouragement while it lasted.


End file.
